Chapter 6 Sacrifices #4
I looked at my grandfather with narrowed eyes as he studied my face.
He’d gotten a bigger helping of African features than I had.
Like any southern family that was blended with a bunch of nationalities, it was hard to pinpoint where my features came from.
Faith was the one who’d given me the almond-shaped eyes everyone thought were from my father.
Pappy was a big man. Not out of place among Polynesians but definitely larger for the average Hawaiian of his generation.
His eyes were rounded, his skin the deep reddish-brown of so many people from the islands.
Despite being in D.C., he still had a sun-kissed glow on his skin, like he’d just stepped back in from vacation.
“Try what, kūkū?”
“Give this situation with the young lady a try. I saw how your eyes lit up when you heard her name.”
Now I knew he was full of shit and crossed my arms in denial of the bullshit he’d just said. “My eyes don’t light up.”
“Bullshit. I saw you, Kamaiki. You might fool others but I have been by your side since you were born. You try to hide everything behind a stone wall but I was there before it was built. You feel something for this girl.” Those knowing brown eyes of his, that had just started to wrinkle in the corners after years of surfing, were zoned in on me relentlessly.
“Curiosity.”
His laughter thundered like it were coming from deep in his chest. “Some say that’s the start of a great love.
You don’t have to have that innate desire to marry her.
For you, the desire to know more and not immediately dismiss someone is a glaring light in the dark that something is going on. Is she pretty?”
“Kūkū!”
He waved me off and I sat back, waiting for him to say something ridiculous because it was coming.
“You take after me in a lot of ways. Not just in your heritage but in your build and your personality. You think your grandmother didn’t intrigue me?
She did. So you’re over here talking about this girl and I see now that you’re curious, my future granddaughter-in-law must be a beauty.
Especially if her twin sister is a model. ”
I wouldn’t tell a pointless lie since he would see for himself eventually.
“She’s stunning.”
His grin deepened and a laugh that started deep in his belly echoed through the room. “The ancestors and the gods of the island and of the continent have finally heard my prayers. Maybe even the colonizers God had something to do with this as well.”
“You’re going too far.”
He patted my shoulder with a grin, the joy of this moment lighting his eyes. Seeing his happiness released the tightness in the chest from the decision I’d made.
“For this type of miracle to have happened, every god that has ever been praised had to come together to make it happen. Congratulations, Ori. I can’t wait to meet her.”
ASHA
“Wlad.”
I smiled as my dad called me daughter in his native tongue.
I was in the white and lavender office that I’d had designed in a small den in my house.
I did my best not to bring work home but I wrote my book here and I wanted it to be comfortable.
An L-shaped white sectional was situated beneath the window and my desk was closer to the door.
The sectional was covered in floral pillows and soft throws.
A large portrait of Sasha and me hung over the sectional.
It was taken on our twenty-fifth birthday.
“Abo. This isn’t our usual call. What is going on?”
My father was my favorite parent. Truthfully, to me he was my only parent; however my siblings didn’t appreciate it much when I said that.
“Things are getting more complicated than I expected.”
I sat up because my father wasn’t one to admit any type of defeat. And that’s how he sounded. Defeated. As though the measures he’d taken weren’t working and he was now backed up against a wall.
My dad was who people assumed their elected officials were going to be when they made promises they couldn’t keep.
He was the type of man who truly cared about people and had the type of power, influence and money that ensured things got done.
But it seemed that his home country was doing its abject best to keep the footholds of unrest firmly planted when we needed to be dismantling the oppressive systems that kept so much of our country and continent beneath the boot heels of white supremacy.
I’d worked with him on some things and so had Nevaeh but he sounded as though it wasn’t enough.
I’d avoided going to work and the FBI for the last few days, committing to going on Monday at the start of the week. It gave me time to put everything into perspective and hopefully give me time to settle my nerves when it came to Agent Nakoa.
“I thought things were getting better with the UCCA. After the speeches and the pledges—”
“Those types of things all hinge on people staying true to their word. A man can be fickle when he's promised the world.”
“And you can’t give them the stars?” I was teasing, an attempt to lighten the mood but I knew this situation weighed heavily on him.
“In some ways, yes. But in others, no. Some people want fame, Asha. I’m not one to platform anyone. I’d rather pay to go away. But that’s not what some people want.”
“They want the money and to remain in control.”
I nodded understanding his position. “Yes, which of course is a problem.”
“Sure. They could take the money and keep doing the same things that had the suffering going on for this long.” People were restless because of all the turmoil that was happening along the coast of East Africa.
The worry that people would begin to cling to militarist ideals to prevent the issues from reaching Eritrea and taking hold was increasing.
“Precisely. I had to reach out to people who could do things without going through the regular channels.”
I drummed my fingers on my desk propping my feet up on the small stool that sat beneath it. “Thinking outside the box isn’t a bad idea.”
“No, but paying people to do things in one thing. Having them indebted to you on a personal level is another.”
“This sounds ominous.”
“Not ominous, but it is a sacrifice.”
I got that feeling again. The sense that something had already been determined but I endured whatever the decision was. “What’s going on?”
“There is a group of people who could assist. I’ve known of them for a while, but they don’t move on issues unless it’s something brought to their attention.”
“And corruption in a country as small as Eritrea isn’t really a high priority.”
“Not saying that, many people are unaware of it. Think about the corruption that runs through the UK. The way the royal family is literally leasing out space for hospitals and emergency services getting paid a mint for it. When they did nothing to own the land to begin with.”
“That’s true.”
“And even in the US, especially in Washington. You can’t walk ten inches without hitting someone that’s crooked.” Abo continued with his examples trying to show the prevalence of corruption in both places I called home.
“You’ll hear no argument about that from me.”
“The agreement has been presented for you to be married to one of the men who might be able to assist me.”
I paused knowing that he hadn’t hinted at all this good he wanted to do in the world just to play on my emotions.
That I wasn’t expecting from him. This was more of a line out of my mother’s playbook so having it come from him was frankly heartbreaking.
I was thankful that he was smart enough not to speak.
He made no attempt to rush along the conversation and I took my sweet time before I said another word.
“You’ve what?!” I jumped up from my desk as I screamed at my father with all the incredulity I was feeling.
“It sounds far worse than—”
My sarcastic chuckle cut through whatever bullshit he was going to spew.
“No. There’s no way it could sound far worse because it sounds bloody awful as it is.
You’re signing me up for a lifetime connection to someone I don’t even know.
Bartering me in a way that you said you abhorred about other countries yet you’re doing the same thing. ”
“Semira, I understand that you’re upset—”
“Don’t patronize me by calling me that now that you’ve made a mistake. Speak plainly.”
I was never short with my father let alone disrespectful but right now I was furious.
Furious because he knew to come to me with this and no one else.
It was too late in the day for this to have been something he’d just thought up.
He’d been planning it for a while and the idea of being used as a pawn and having my future decided for me was something I couldn’t stomach. Not from him.
“This isn’t some decrepit old man, Asha. He’s only a few years older than you are and more than able to take care of you. His finances far exceed mine and you would probably find him attractive.”
I gripped my scalp through my hair wanting to stab something to break the hold my anger had on me. The carefully selected pillows would be in shreds and I would have to clean up a metric ton of feathers when I calmed down but I didn’t care.
“What does his being attractive have to do with anything? I can’t stand the thought of being used to secure a deal yet you want me to smile like an obedient child and agree to this.”
“Have you ever known me to do anything to harm you, Semira?”
I hated when he used my given first name.
Not wanting to cause us issue we normally went by our English first names.
Well, Sasha’s English first name. My mother didn’t care that my name actually had meaning; she only named me Asha by taking away the S in my twin’s name.
She said I was always destined to live in her shadow and to be less than her so my name should reflect it.
Fucked up that she would even admit to it.